


Watch You Sleep

by orphan_account



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: (it ends really cute don't worry), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Fluff, Gay Will Byers, LGBT, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Mike's Parents are Transphobic, Mileven Doesn't Happen, Ted Wheeler is Emotionally Abusive, The Byers Family is Supportive, Trans Boy Mike Wheeler, Transphobia, byler, nancy is a good sister, stranger things, trans main character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22552432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Things are starting to get bad in the Wheeler's house. Mike only knows one person he can run to for support, and that person is his boyfriend, Will Byers.But it's late, and Will's asleep. He wakes up when he feels the bed dip down beside him, but Will doesn't mind. He knows what's happening, he knows things are bad at home, so he leaves the window open for Mike every night.
Relationships: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 1
Kudos: 95





	Watch You Sleep

**Author's Note:**

> This story DOES mention abuse, just a warning! If that is something you can't handle, maybe this story isn't the greatest for you.

It was common knowledge to everyone who knew the Wheeler family that they weren’t a very functional family. They argued constantly whenever they were alone, no uninvited guests in the house to hear the yelling. The slamming of doors, the echoed shouts across the hallway, it seemed to only reflect back onto them.

Maybe the neighbors could hear. Maybe everyone could hear what was going on, or maybe rather see it, when Mike Wheeler goes to school with a baggy hoodie and his hood up to cover the sorrow look in his eyes. Or when Nancy Wheeler got uncharacteristically quiet whenever her friends brought up their parents. Maybe they can hear it in their heads, but it’s never loud enough to draw attention.

Poor Holly, never knowing what a healthy environment to live in is like. Poor Nancy, who feels like she’s the only one who can set a good example for her two younger siblings. Poor Mike, who feels like it’s his fault, ever since he told his parents that he didn’t want to be their “perfect little girl anymore.”

That perfect little girl, who wasn’t what he thought he was. That perfect little girl, who finally realized that maybe “perfect little boy” suits him better. Or just Mike. Not perfect, not little, and definitely not a girl.

He was nine when he told them. He didn’t know at first, only thinking that he had some sort of illness. He held that same solemn expression while telling them, though his insides were burning just as hot as the flush on his cheeks. Karen had her lips pursed together tightly, as though in deep thought. Nancy looked confused, not knowing exactly what he had meant.

Ted was pissed. More than pissed, if you want to consider the hand he had raised in the air before lowering it, deciding he didn’t want to harm his child. But Mike’s heart shattered inside. That was when it finally hit him that this wasn’t a safe place anymore.

He was scared to tell his friends. He couldn’t tell Will first, but neither could he tell Lucas or Dustin first. So he tried to cover it up with his parents, making them think it was just a phase. 

But the walls broke quicker than expected. At least a few years later, around the time he and the group had met Max Mayfield, after they found Will Byers and after Eleven went missing in Will’s place, he had broken down completely. He was with Nancy when it happened, right after she handed him a box of supplies for his little “womanly issue” that he broke down into a fit of sobs.

He told her then, said right then and there that he wasn’t a fucking girl even though his body didn’t agree. She held him while he cried, her skinny arms wrapped around his small figure in a comforting manner. 

Nancy dragged him right to the bathroom, pulling out a pair of scissors from a small bag on the granite countertops. Mike still had tears streaming down his face, but felt a twinge of relief when he realized that those were hair-cutting scissors. 

He stood still and tall while Nancy cut away at his hair. He stared directly into her eyes through the mirror, which he then realized were flaming with fury. He knew it wasn't because of him, because he could feel it too. Karen would never let him do what Nancy is doing to help him now. Sheering his long raven-black hair completely off, now leaving a mess of wavy hair at the top of his head.

“Fuck,” She murmured, continuing to work at the hair, this time with more care. It was still messy when she was done, she wasn’t a hairstylist, but it was the best thing Mike could ask for at this point. 

His parents were pissed. This was more or less when the most arguments started, Ted screaming at both children for how stupid their actions were. Karen tried to calm him down, tried to give reason for what they did, but he seemed to be seeing red. It was irrational, which is why Mike slipped out of the house.

He ran straight to the Byers’s place, knowing the route. He simply stepped into the house, much like Will and him have done in the past. Joyce was in the kitchen with her boyfriend, who Mike never really seemed to like very much until he started to get to know him. Bob, his name was- simple name for a simple guy. 

Joyce seemed delighted to see him at first, but her smile fell when she saw the tears streaming down his face. She closed the door behind him, talking to him for a bit, trying to comfort him. It worked slightly, but that could also be because Mike missed the caring, motherly voice that Joyce used on him.

“Will’s in his room, Mikayla, if you want to talk to him.” She had told him. Mike’s stomach fell, remembering that no one else really knew about how he felt. No one else except for the Wheelers. But he swallowed the knot in his throat and walked past her.

Mike told Will then as well. But he didn’t get a bad reaction, like he expected. Instead, Will just hugged him tightly, asking for his preferred name.

Will helped him come up with the name Mike. Will helped him come out to the group, as well as everyone else that Mike thought should know. Will, as well as Nancy, Jonathan and Joyce, comforted him whenever periods became too much to handle. So Mike felt obligated to stick by Will’s side, even while they were at the risk of death, trying to get that goddamn Mind Flayer out of his body.

El was back now, and she knew. Max was surprisingly so supportive, it was actually kind of crazy. Maybe she understood how he felt about his home life more than he thought. Lucas and Dustin took some time to get used to it, needing a bit of explaining first. But they respected Mike, and that was really all he needed from them.

It’s been two years, but the shouting hasn’t stopped. Not even on Mike’s fifteen birthday did things get better in the house. “Mikayla” was still the term his parents used on him, and it was breaking his heart.

But the last straw had been pulled when he watched his father throw a family photo on the ground, shattering it. Mike had heard it, a flinch escaping his body. Holly ran into Nancy’s room immediately, crying. Mike blinked back tears of his own to no avail as he slid open his bedroom window, sliding out into the cold October air and shutting the window loudly behind him.

Will was probably asleep, he knew that, but he couldn’t bear to stay in the house any longer. So he grabbed his bike and sped towards the small house, the thought of seeing El as well being an afterthought.

Mike and Will have been dating ever since the Mind Flayer was killed. Two years of them dating, even though they know it’s not acceptable in Hawkins. He was surprisingly taller than Will, even though his genes should say otherwise. Maybe, in Mike’s case, his chromosomes wouldn’t end up being so horrible to deal with.

He biked to the back of the Byers’ house, hiding his bike in the bushes and lightly tapping on Will’s window. He peeked inside when there was no answer given, realizing that his boyfriend was most definitely asleep. Mike slid the window open regardless, pushing himself through it and stumbling slightly before landing.

He pulled the window closed with a snap, realizing that Will was now stirring awake. He really was a light sleeper. “Are they fighting again?” He asked, his voice still raspy as he stretched his arms over his head. Mike bit his lip and nodded, walking closer to his bed. Will moved over, gesturing for him to lay beside him, which brought a smile to Mike’s lips.

Mike got settled under the covers, letting Will wrap his arms around his small figure. Will pressed a kiss to Mike’s forehead, snuggling his face into Mike’s chest, grumbling slightly, as though annoyed about something. He pulled the blankets up higher, but Mike still couldn’t feel the duvet covering his neck. But it was okay, because the boy he loved was cuddling him a bit too tightly, and Mike knew he couldn’t complain. 

Sleep didn’t hit either boys immediately while Mike traced a finger across a large scar that rested on Will’s spine, causing the other to shiver. But when Will finally did fall asleep, Mike felt completely content watching him breathe while he played with his hair, gently, as to not wake him up.

In any other circumstances, watching someone fall asleep would be creepy as shit. But they were both content, so what was the point in overthinking it?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfiction on this website! Sorry if it's a bit rough around the edges, I'm still trying to improve. I just came from Wattpad, which you may be able to tell from the lackluster writing habits I still use. Hope you still liked it, though!


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